It is common practice in the construction of bowling alleys to provide a bowling alley storage rack at the approach or players end of the alleys, the balls being returned to the rack via a common return runway which extends for the length of the alley. In bowling alley installations of this type, the storage racks are ordinarily designed so that a pair of storage racks are located between two adjacent alleys and extend in the direction of the alleys. The storage racks are also disposed in the same generally horizontal plane at a convenient height, so that a bowler whose turn it is to bowl, approaches the return rack and retrieves his or her bowling ball without bending down more than a moderate amount.
For example, a United States Patent of M. Turner, U.S. Pat. No. 2,788,972 ('972), discloses a bowling alley return terminal unit for holding a substantial number of bowling balls as returned from the pin end of the alley in parallel racks which are in the same horizontal plane. The terminal unit is constructed to receive the bowling balls from a common return way and to cause them, as received, to roll, under gravity, into one or the other of the two parallel ways of the storage unit for easy selection by a bowler when needed. As disclosed in the '972 patent, the terminal unit rack has coextensive, parallel ways which are parallel with the alley for receiving returned bowling balls at the same end and direct from the ball return way, as distinguished from being continuous and in a reverse turn.
A second approach to a bowling ball return and storage rack is disclosed by J. Ernst in his U.S. Pat. No. 2,937,024. As disclosed by Ernst, a bowling ball return and storage rack extends transversely of the alley in such manner that one desiring a ball from the rack would only have to approach the transverse portion from an area behind the bowlers and without encroaching on the playing area, i.e., the approach area of the alley.
The Ernst device incorporates a T-shaped storage rack wherein the storage tracks and the infeed track are arranged generally in the form of a T, so that when the rack is installed, each of the storage tracks will project transversely behind the approach or players portion of a different one of two adjacent alleys between which the infeed track is disposed. The balls which are discharged from the infeed are diverted laterally onto one or the other of the storage racks. In the Ernst device, a switch member directs a bowling ball to one or the other of the storage racks on a random basis. However, when one of the storage racks is filled with bowling balls, the last ball will be positioned to be lightly engaged by the next ball and the rolling ball will be deflected thereby to the other storage rack.
A more recent approach to a bowling alley ball return and storage rack includes an infeed track and a pair of parallel horizontal storage racks disposed on opposite side of the infeed track. An S-shaped member acts as a stop for directing a first bowling ball to a first of the storage racks and for positioning the ball therein so that a subsequently returned ball will be deflected by the first ball into the opposite storage rack. Such returns included interchangeable rails to compensate for wear. In testing bowling ball return and storage racks of the aforementioned type, it was also found that the returned bowling balls did not always reach the end of the rack and that the bowling alley ball return and storage racks were less durable than desired.
It is now believed that there is a significant demand for an improved bowling ball return and storage rack assembly having a pair of parallel storage racks which are generally parallel with the alley and wherein the returned bowling balls from a single infeed will be evenly distributed to alternate racks. It is also believed that a bowling ball return and storage rack assembly, in accordance with the present invention, will meet that demand and offer a number of other advantages. For example, a bowling ball return and storage rack assembly according to the present invention is of a particularly durable design, has no moving parts and minimizes any maintenance requirements. And, when a bowler picks up a bowling ball from one of the racks, the next returned ball will be automatically directed to the rack which has the lesser number of bowling balls therein.
In addition, the bowling ball return and storage rack assemblies according to the present invention include replaceable wear surfaces. The assemblies also minimize any likelihood of damage to a bowling ball and further reduce the likelihood of a bowling ball falling out of the storage rack or of being inadvertently dislodged therefrom. Finally, the bowling ball return and storage rack assembly, in accordance with the present invention, can be manufactured at a favorable cost and at the same time present a pleasing appearance to a bowler.